Chapter 143 Subtly Undermining Others

While riding on the back of the Darkwind Vulture, Xu Wen learned from Wang Xiaoshuai that all the men in black armor were elite death-bound soldiers secretly recruited and controlled by "Lord Shadow." They were individuals who had surrendered their soul flames, making them soul slaves directly commanded by Lord Shadow. Normally, they lived quite comfortably in that mountain cavern, with plenty of money and women.

Because he refused to surrender his soul flame, Wang Xiaoshuai had been kept imprisoned, subjected to all sorts of temptations and tortures, until he finally found an opportunity to escape. Xu Wen had also noticed that, apart from a few who were still at the sixth-star advanced stage, the black-armored warriors below were almost exclusively seventh-star experts.

More than sixty of them stood neatly in a standoff against the dozens of members of the Royal Mercenary Corps. Nearby, dozens of sixth-star magical beasts with fierce, bloodthirsty glares radiated a menacing aura. In contrast, the Royal Mercenary Corps had suffered heavy casualties. Within a short period, several corpses had been abandoned, and the remaining thirty-odd members were all injured, desperately activating barrier shields or defensive battle techniques.

The disparity in strength was obvious at a glance!

Although the power erupted by Xu Wen and his two companions during their reaction was not yet enough to catch the eye of an eight-star expert, Xu Wen's sixth-star Earth Emperor-level magic and the seventh-star combat power unleashed by a fourth-star mage genuinely startled everyone present, including Lu Fei and his two companions.

"Good grief."

"We underestimated him."

Lu Fei finally realized why he had felt something was strange all along. How could a mage of fourth-star strength face such a formation without the slightest trace of panic? Xu Wen's strength was obviously no less than that of an ordinary sixth-star fire mage!

No wonder... Three guys with the equivalent of seventh-star strength, even if they couldn't offer massive assistance, should at least be more than capable of protecting themselves.

Exchanging glances, the three of them silently communicated.

Swish!

Qin Lang vanished from his spot.

When he reappeared, he was already standing right in front of the warrior who had hoisted a tree trunk to attack the Darkwind Vulture, wearing a wide, toothed grin!

A fine head flew into the air, detached from its body.

The execution was so swift and merciless that even the stronger side could not help but shudder with a chilling fear, quickly shifting their attention away from Xu Wen and his companions.

Just then, accompanied by a muffled, thunder-like cold snort, a calm and somewhat dignified voice rang out from behind the black-armored warriors:

"Leave this person to me. You deal with the other two?"

Qin Lang silently retrieved his sword and raised his head.

An exceptionally bulky giant emerged from the forest behind the black-armored warriors. Every step he took was unusually slow, but the length of his stride was terrifying. In just two or three steps, he bypassed the black-armored warriors and closed in on Qin Lang within a ten-meter radius.

"Everyone else, listen up! Take down the scum of the Royal Mercenary Corps within a single breath!"

"Understood!"

The black-armored warriors roared in acknowledgment.

Dozens of magical beasts seemed to receive the command as well, emitting muffled growls and charging thunderously toward the battle lines of the Royal Mercenary Corps!

The black-armored warriors followed closely behind.

With battle qi blazing fiercely, dozens of radiances swept rapidly past the left and right sides of Qin Lang. Magical beasts and warriors merged together, piercing into the lines of the Royal Mercenary Corps with the momentum of a rainbow. No wonder even the combat prowess of the Royal Mercenary Corps had forced them to send out a distress signal in such a short amount of time.

"Explode!"

Lu Fei flicked his sleeve, scattering over a hundred cards that gleamed with multicolored light, shooting out like arrows released from a bowstring.

Xu Wen and his two companions retreated behind the lines of the Royal Mercenary Corps, watching the battlefield vigilantly.

The hundred-odd cards dispersed in mid-air, arranged in rows, and detonated simultaneously.

Yellow dust rapidly diffused from the cards, quickly flooding a small half of the battlefield. Those who blundered blindly into it immediately let out exceptionally shrill screams, their vital auras rapidly fading away in a bizarre scene.

"Hmph, I didn't expect the Earth Demon 'Lu Fei' to come in person. It seems we have no choice but to take things seriously..."

The giant facing off against Qin Lang let out a loud shout:

"All of you, come out!"

Four startlingly intimidating dark figures flashed from the forest into the arena. The sheer auras emanating from them alone blew away more than half of the billowing yellow dust released by Lu Fei, exposing the black-armored warriors and magical beasts buried within.

"Five..."

Xu Wen's expression stiffened.

Four more eight-star experts: one eight-star beast tamer manipulating magical beasts, two swordsmen, and one battle master.

With this development, the scene instantly turned into the Royal Mercenary Corps fighting three against five, while the opposing side held an absolute upper hand among the minor troops!

"Master."

Old Xie's tone grew tense as he called out in a low voice, "The situation is looking bad."

"I know."

Xu Wen could no longer maintain his previous calm and steady composure. Staring at the several eight-star experts on the field who made Lu Fei and his two companions grave, he began to rapidly calculate in his heart.

Lu Fei was a "card-controlling master" and should have no problem fighting two opponents at once. Since Qin Lang and Angus were captain-level experts of the Royal Mercenary Corps with the backing of the Crimson Alliance Imperial Palace, they ought to have better odds than experts of the same rank.

That being the case... Three against five was not entirely devoid of a chance to hold their ground.

If they truly could not withstand the pressure, having Old Xie step in to assist would make it easy to stabilize the situation. Doing so would not only avert a disaster but also earn the favor of Lu Fei and his companions.

The two forces collided, and the battle erupted completely.

Xu Wen sent a telepathic instruction to Old Xie, swiftly summoned Little Hu, and leaped onto its back. Forming a three-person unit, they began to assist the members of the Royal Mercenary Corps in dealing with the black-armored warriors.

All three of them were shrewd and resourceful individuals.

One was a gold-medal gamer who grasped the essence of avoiding the strong to strike the weak; another was a mercenary group leader, a seventh-star magic swordsman with decent combat capability, harboring deep hatred and wielding a formidable flying dragon spear, making him a rare match among seventh-star peers; the last was the leader of the Marauder Mercenary Corps, who had spent countless years operating in the shadows. Under Xu Wen's command, picking off enemies one by one came as second nature to them.

The dozen or so sixth-star black-armored warriors were nothing more than fragile eggs in front of Xu Wen's trio.

Xu Wen, who looked young and tender, was the most decisive and ruthless when it came to striking. His blazing fire python remained hidden until needed, but once unleashed, it inflicted devastating injuries. Sixth-star opponents simply could not resist; their battle qi shattered under the magic damage of the black flames. Bound by the fire python, their defenses collapsed instantly, reducing them to charred cinders.

Whenever they encountered a seventh-star opponent, Wang Xiaoshuai stepped up without hesitation to hold the line, while Old Xie flanked from a safe hidden position to ambush them. Their coordination was by no means inferior to that of veteran experts from the Royal Mercenary Corps.

After continuously eliminating eight men, the invincible trio finally alerted the black-armored warriors.

"Careful!"

Wang Xiaoshuai's warning had just sounded when Xu Wen instantly sensed several formidable surges of battle qi locking onto him simultaneously from the flank. His internal alarm bells shrieked, and his blazing fire python whipped back like lightning. Its thick body rapidly contracted around him, coiling into a sturdy, seamless defensive formation to protect both rider and tiger.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The attackers were five veteran mercenaries who had long kept an eye on Xu Wen's trio. Seeing that the black-armored warriors were holding their own against the Royal Mercenary Corps solely because of these three individuals, they naturally refused to let the situation continue.

All five targeted Xu Wen simultaneously because he appeared the easiest to "bully." His cultivation was the lowest, and his attacks were extremely monotonous—pure offense and defense backed by a single type of magic that could be easily figured out after watching it a few times.

Wang Xiaoshuai was a magic swordsman, making him the hardest bone to chew, while Old Xie was protected by a dark barrier, making a surprise attack within a short time nearly impossible!

However... they underestimated Xu Wen's defensive magic.

The blazing fire python took five consecutive attacks, its elemental surface dissolving layer by layer. Flames splattered outward like shredded flesh; although the sight was gruesome, it did not harm Xu Wen himself.

Its body, over a meter thick, completely absorbed the brunt of the first wave of firepower.

"Damn it!"

"Didn't you guys eat today?!"

"Charge! Don't let him recover, dammit!!"

The reactions of the five were astonishingly uniform. Following their single strike, they flashed out from the chaotic battlefield, cursing loudly as they charged straight toward Xu Wen's location.

Roar!

Little Hu opened its blood-allured jaws and unleashed a massive roar, spitting out a colossal fireball.

Screech!

The Darkwind Vulture timely appeared above Xu Wen's head. With a single flap of its wings, it directly transformed the fireball in mid-air into a super-sized fireball that filled the vision of the five attackers, forcing them to detour and dodge.

"Heh!"

In just this brief moment, the black fire python outside Xu Wen's body had mostly recovered.

"...Dark Thorns!"

Old Xie watched the actions of the five men, let out a cold snort, and suddenly lunged forward, slamming both palms heavily into the ground.

Right behind the fireball, the terrified screams of several men rang out:

"What is this?!"

In front of the fireball, a vast forest of thorns composed of dark elements emerged out of thin air, continuously sprouting complex and tangled branches of incomparable hardness and sharpness. It trapped all five individuals squarely inside. Even with battle qi slashes, clearing them entirely was difficult, and the damage inflicted was substantial.

Consequently, the massive fireballs executed by the Three-Eyed Flame Tiger in coordination with the Darkwind Vulture struck their targets dead-on!

Amidst the roaring flames, two slightly smaller black fire serpents struck like lightning, clamping onto one of the men. The black flames surged wildly, rapidly eroding his battle qi armor!

"Ah!!"

The moment his battle qi armor dissipated, the man let out a shrill shriek as he was tightly bound by the fire serpent. Amidst the horrified gazes of the others, he was hoisted high into the air and dragged completely out of the range of the dark thorn forest.

The eight-star experts locked in aerial combat had been fighting fiercely, but they kept a close eye on the situation below.

Seeing that the sneak attack on Xu Wen by the black-armored warriors had failed—intercepted instead by Wang Xiaoshuai waving his silver spear, resulting in two more deaths—the black-armored warriors began to lose ground, finally exhausting their patience.

One of the eight-star swordsmen withdrew from the battlefield with a cold snort:

"Useless trash!"

"Hold them off for a moment. I'll take care of a few pests and be right back."

"Dream on!"

Lu Fei hurriedly shot out several cards, but they were intercepted halfway by another opponent:

"Your opponent is me!"

Unimpeded, the swordsman plunged rapidly into the forest.

"Old Xie!"

The eight-star expert made no attempt to conceal his formidable aura; the moment he broke away from the battlefield, Xu Wen captured his presence. His heart trembled as he shouted loudly.

Old Xie's speed was not slow either.

Disregarding the remaining two targets trapped in the dark thorn forest, he let out a low roar as his body rapidly expanded, his outer robe tearing instantly into hundreds of tattered pieces.

Having undergone multiple demonic transformations, his physical strength had long since adapted to these changes.

Before the opponent entered his attacking range, Old Xie had already transformed into a demonic physique over four meters tall before the shocked gazes of the dozens of people present. His pupils contracted to the size of beans, and his aura surged rapidly, faintly catching up to the approaching enemy.

(To be continued)